The present invention relates to a gaming terminal or other gaming device and methods for using which uses one or more user-pressable switches which have controllable or programmable displays or labels thereon, and in particular switches with movable activation surfaces with an array of liquid crystal or other programmable pixels.
Gaming devices or terminals (including, for example, slot machines, poker machines, blackjack machines, keno machines and the like) have been found to present particular challenges with respect to providing switches for user or player input to operate the game or gaming device, particularly when it is desired to provide the game or gaming device in a cost-effective manner. Like many controllable devices, gaming terminals often need to provide the capability for receiving different types of user input such as selecting among different choices at a given stage of a game and/or presenting various different sets of choices, for user selection, depending on which of multiple stages of a game have been reached. For example, many gaming terminals are configured to provide a main game component and a xe2x80x9cbonusxe2x80x9d game component in which the bonus component is not necessarily played as a part of each xe2x80x9croundxe2x80x9d of the main gaming component, e.g., in which the bonus game is only played in response to one or more predetermined outcomes of the main game component. In many situations, the bonus game involves user activation of user input or controls for functions which are different from functions which appear in the main game component. Unlike many other types of controllable machines or devices, gaming devices have particular needs to provide such various inputs while accommodating a situation in which the operation of many aspects of the game must be substantially unpredictable. In addition to providing unpredictability for purposes of increasing the interest or entertainment value provided by a gaming device, in many situations, gaming devices are regulated by government agencies which require an assurance of randomness or unpredictability in at least some aspects of game operation. Owing partly to such requirements for unpredictability, gaming devices present particular challenges for establishing user input or controls when the unpredictability means that the sequence, meaning and/or location of inputs or other game components cannot be known in advance.
Some previous approaches to design of gaming terminals involved including a plurality of different mechanical switches which may be activatable or usable at different times during the progress of a game. As used herein, a xe2x80x9cmechanicalxe2x80x9d switch refers to a switch which is activated by touching or pressing a switch activation surface. Typically a mechanical switch involves movement of the activation surface, even if such movement is relatively slight. There are, however, touch or press-activated switches which respond to proximity, heat, interruption of a light beam and the like, where movement of the activation surface does not necessarily occur. As used herein, a mechanical switch, however, does not include a touch screen device in which touches of a region of a CRT or similar computer screen or monitor are detected. The variety of different types of user inputs which are typically provided in games designed to maintain user interest and entertainment has meant that a relatively large number of such mechanical switches have been provided in previous designs. The consequent proliferation of mechanical switches is associated with a number of disadvantages. The cost of a gaming terminal will typically increase as the number of discrete switches increases, owing not only to the cost of the switches themselves, but also to the costs for providing cabling or other connections to the various switches, power, control and the like. Furthermore, previous mechanical switches typically involve a degree of maintenance and/or repair, including the cost of monitoring and replacing burnt-out lighting, which is typically in the form of incandescent bulbs. In many situations, the amount of surface area which is available or feasible for positioning switches is relatively limited. This is partly because of practical and economic limits on the volume or areal space (xe2x80x9cfootprintxe2x80x9d) which is available in a casino or similar location for accommodating a gaming device and partly owing to limits on how accessible or reachable such buttons are to a player. The proliferation of mechanical switches can have a detrimental effect on attracting or retaining gaming terminal usage, e.g. because potential players may be intimidated by or confused by devices having a relatively large number of controls.
Furthermore, proliferation of controls or switches on a gaming device can increase the number of items which a gaming device manufacturer or a casino must maintain in inventory (for fabrication, repair or maintenance purposes) including maintaining the various labels or legends for each button or switch, providing adequate training for personnel who must install or replace such legends or labels and detecting and/or reconfiguring labels which have been incorrectly installed. Additionally, gaming devices which have relatively large number of mechanical switches can be relatively difficult to initially design and/or update or retrofit (e.g. when it is desired to change a gaming terminal which is configured for playing the first game into a gaming terminal which is configured for playing a second game).
Accordingly, it would be useful to provide gaming terminals which can achieve the desired gaming functions, to maintain high user interest, while reducing the number of controls, such as reducing the number of mechanical switches or buttons, without incurring substantially increased costs.
Although it may be possible to position mechanical switches or buttons adjacent a CRT, LCD or similar display (so that the display can provide button labels or legends with, e.g., arrows pointing to the respective adjacent buttons) it is believed that configurations with legends or labels which are physically spaced from the button activation surface are inordinately confusing to players and are often considered unattractive, thus reducing overall gaming terminal utilization.
In some devices, a single mechanical switch is used for two or more functions with each of the two or more functions being displayed on the button activation surface. It is believed that providing buttons with multiple legends, only one of which is applicable at any one time, is confusing to many players and is often perceived as unattractive. Although switches with multiple legends, or spaced-apart legends or devices with a relatively large number of switches may be useful in some contexts, including contexts where switch operation is performed by trained users, the potential for confusion in gaming terminals is relatively high when gaming terminals are used by members of the general public and thus by untrained users. Accordingly, it would be useful to provide a gaming terminal in a manner that user-activatable switches or similar controls will avoid player confusion and intimidation.
Some gaming terminals have been provided with certain user controls which are activated using a touch screen. Touch screen controls, however, are relatively expensive and can undesirably add to the overall cost of fabricating, maintaining or repairing a gaming terminal. Furthermore, it is particularly difficult (or impossible) and/or expensive to operate touch screens having relatively fine spatial resolution and/or relatively rapid response times of a nature which may be desirable in certain types of games. For example, some games include at least an element of skill (such as requiring activation of a switch or other user input within a predetermined period after a certain type of display or other cue). Accordingly, it would be useful to provide a gaming device with the capability for receiving user input or displaying game cues (or other components) with a relatively rapid response time while avoiding the relatively high costs associated with rapid-response (or high-resolution) touch screens or similar approaches
Preferably, such integrated display/control provides sufficient spatial and/or temporal resolution or response time to achieve attractive and interesting displays e.g. including image or character animation or other simulated motion, movable or controllable colors and the like.
Even when CRTs, or other computer monitor-type displays are provided without touch screen capabilities, overall gaming terminal costs can be relatively high, at least in part due to the relatively high cost of CRTs or similar displays. Such relatively high display costs are particularly burdensome when separate (spaced apart) switches or other controls must also be installed on a gaming terminal. Accordingly, it would be useful to provide a gaming terminal in which some or all display components can be combined with some or all switch or other control components to reduce the overall number of components in the gaming terminal.
The present invention involves a gaming terminal (and gaming use thereof) which provides one or more switches, preferably mechanical switches, having switch activation surfaces with changeable, controllable or programmable indicia such as characters, icons, logos and the like. In this way, a single switch can readily be used for different functions (such as functions during different portions of game play) in a manner that reduces the total number of switches or buttons on the gaming terminal and thus decreases cost, avoids player confusion and increases gaming terminal flexibility and the like. In one embodiment, the switch includes a backlight with the activation surface having a plurality of controllable pixels for selectively blocking portions of the backlight in a controllable pattern.
Preferably, the game can be in any of a number of different game states, e.g. in response to various game events including user input events and accordingly, in one embodiment, the switch is controlled to change a displayed legend or label in response to user input, including, in some cases, user input provided by activation of a switch. In one embodiment, the gaming terminal can be selected or readily reconfigured to play any of a plurality of different games, wherein the legends or labels displayed on at least one switch during the play of the game are dependent, at least in part, on which game is selected or configured. In one embodiment, the changeable legends or labels represent or form a part of the game such as a game in which particular user input is to be provided in response to (such as within a predetermined time after) a particular display on one or more switch activation surfaces.